Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 6 - Macon to Dijon - Macon, France - July 4, 2024 Team Jayco AlUla's Dylan Groenewegen celebrates on the podium after winning stage 6 REUTERS/Molly Darlington
DIJON, France (Reuters) - Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen won the sixth stage of the Tour de France, a 163.5km ride from Macon, as he prevailed in a tight bunch sprint finish on Thursday.
The Jayco AlUla rider, 31, let out a huge scream after beating Belgian Jasper Philipsen for his sixth individual stage win on the Tour, with Eritrea's Biniam Girmay coming home third.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey after a mid-stage scare with the Burgundy vineyards in the background.
The 2020 and 2021 champion was without a teammate when defending champion Jonas Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike team's brutal acceleration amid crosswinds split the bunch in two.
Pogacar was on the right side of the split but all his UAE Emirates team mates were trapped behind, before a collective effort allowed them to rejoin the front bunch 70km from the finish.
Mark Cavendish, who claimed a record 35th stage win on the Tour on Wednesday, was not in the mix for the final sprint.
The Briton was also reprimanded by the race stewards for using his team car's slipstream to ease his way back into the peloton after suffering a mechanical.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron, writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)
